Developing Function Blocks for Collecting Data and Integrating Legacy Systems in Manufacturing and Logistics
Govindarajan, Naveen Kumar (2018)
Govindarajan, Naveen Kumar
2018
Automaatiotekniikka
Teknisten tieteiden tiedekunta - Faculty of Engineering Sciences
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Hyväksymispäivämäärä
2018-05-09
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tty-201805041602
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tty-201805041602
Tiivistelmä
Manufacturing enterprises have been increasingly technology-driven during recent decades. Industry 4.0 promotes smart manufacturing and intelligent systems which can seamlessly communicate with each other and enable decentralized decision-making by monitoring the factory-floor process. This calls for the Information Communication Technologies (ICT) infrastructure to be effectively incorporated with the industries. Industry 4.0 presents the concept of “smart factory” in which Cyber-Physical-Systems (CPS) fuses the physical systems with the Internet of Things (IoT), enabling higher levels of interoperability and Information transparency.
However, manufacturing enterprises in the recent past have characterized their efficiency by how prominently and adequately they adopt and utilize their IT solutions and how feasible those solutions are to integrate with their legacy systems. Enterprise Integration, in particular, has become more challenging owing to the highly dynamic manufacturing environment. System integration has become an indispensable field to be addressed , especially when the industry adopts connected enterprise paradigm. Connected enterprise systems enable industries to leverage their technologies to collect, analyze and refine their data to help them make better business decisions.
In a recent trend, IT systems in manufacturing are majorly driven towards the cloud and collaborative solutions as a result of the exponential growth of internet technologies and their ability to adapt to rapid changes in the market. Collaborative frameworks are widely preferred by the enterprises as they enable better communication, increases productivity and improve business execution. They are critical for a business to function with agility in this fast pacing and changing world. One such platform is provided by the Cloud Collaborative Manufacturing Networks (C2NET) project that optimizes the supply network of manufacturing and logistics assets.
This thesis research proposes an approach to integrate heterogeneous legacy systems by showcasing an implementation which favors robust data collection. This implementation is made possible by adopting Production Logistics and Sustainability Cockpit (PLANTCockpit) Open Source solution, which functions as a viable interface for real-time data collection and data-logistics thus enhancing the process optimization of the manufacturing enterprise. PLANTCockpit OS is a modular solution which enables to build and deploy flexible loosely coupled entities known as Function Blocks (FBs) that facilitate seamless legacy system integration and robust information exchange between the systems. This thesis also fulfills the C2NET project requirement to define the possibility of effective integration of PLANTCockpit OS in the C2NET reference architecture.
However, manufacturing enterprises in the recent past have characterized their efficiency by how prominently and adequately they adopt and utilize their IT solutions and how feasible those solutions are to integrate with their legacy systems. Enterprise Integration, in particular, has become more challenging owing to the highly dynamic manufacturing environment. System integration has become an indispensable field to be addressed , especially when the industry adopts connected enterprise paradigm. Connected enterprise systems enable industries to leverage their technologies to collect, analyze and refine their data to help them make better business decisions.
In a recent trend, IT systems in manufacturing are majorly driven towards the cloud and collaborative solutions as a result of the exponential growth of internet technologies and their ability to adapt to rapid changes in the market. Collaborative frameworks are widely preferred by the enterprises as they enable better communication, increases productivity and improve business execution. They are critical for a business to function with agility in this fast pacing and changing world. One such platform is provided by the Cloud Collaborative Manufacturing Networks (C2NET) project that optimizes the supply network of manufacturing and logistics assets.
This thesis research proposes an approach to integrate heterogeneous legacy systems by showcasing an implementation which favors robust data collection. This implementation is made possible by adopting Production Logistics and Sustainability Cockpit (PLANTCockpit) Open Source solution, which functions as a viable interface for real-time data collection and data-logistics thus enhancing the process optimization of the manufacturing enterprise. PLANTCockpit OS is a modular solution which enables to build and deploy flexible loosely coupled entities known as Function Blocks (FBs) that facilitate seamless legacy system integration and robust information exchange between the systems. This thesis also fulfills the C2NET project requirement to define the possibility of effective integration of PLANTCockpit OS in the C2NET reference architecture.